On Sunday, #9 Stanford baseball defeated Washington 8-6 to win their three-game home series. Stanford junior left-handed pitcher Drew Dowd (5-2) picked up the win on the mound for the Cardinal in a relief role while junior right-handed pitcher Brandt Pancer (4) picked up the save. Washington redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Josh Emmanuels (2-2) was awarded the loss in a relief role. Stanford improves to 25-12 overall and 13-5 in the Pac-12 while Washington falls to 21-13 overall and 8-9 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Washington at Stanford-Sunday, April 23
“Well, it can’t come any tougher,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said after the game. “Like, we’re still swimming upstream a little bit with our offense and I thought Joey came out and did fine. He just, bump in the road where he puts a couple guys on base and they get one hit to score four. But, he’s giving us a chance every Sunday. But we responded after we got behind. We got two, but we made quite a few mistakes that were keeping us from getting control of that game. We were getting picked off of a or making a couple base running mistakes.
"So, we made it hard on ourselves and that’s kinda what the message was a little bit. We’re making it hard on ourselves in more ways than one. But we were able to persevere and that’s big. That was a big win for us to kinda persevere and get that one. That was not easy against a good ball club.”
Joey Dixon got the start on the mound for Stanford while Jared Engman got the start on the mound for Washington. Both pitchers got off to strong starts, each getting through the first three innings without giving up a run.
In the 4th inning, things changed as both teams finally got on the board. In the top of the 4th, Dixon gave up three straight walks with two outs after which Michael Snyder hit a grand slam to left center, making it a 4-0 lead for the Huskies. Dixon then got the next batter out via ground out to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the 4th, Stanford immediately responded. Braden Montgomery singled through the right side after which Malcolm Moore hit a two-run shot to right center, making it a 4-2 game.
“Well, sometimes your best motivation is desperation, right?” Esquer said. “And I think at that point instead of fighting ourselves, we played a little desperate and sometimes that can kinda release a little energy, right? Where your just playing for your life and I thought we kinda felt that at that moment and obviously Temo Becerra coming in and giving us a spark after not getting a bunt down, but then he hits a homer! And so and gets another hit, so that was a little spark that we needed.”
Drew Bowser then doubled down the left field line, ending Engman’s day on the mound as Emmanuels came in to pitch for him. Emmanuels would then walk Alberto Rios, making it look like the Cardinal might score more runs in the inning. Fortunately for Emmanuels, he was able to get Temo Becerra to ground into a double play, who came in to pinch hit for Jake Sapien. Then, Owen Cobb popped up to second base to end the bottom of the inning.
In the top of the 5th inning, Dixon made quick work of the Washington batters by getting three straight batters out. In the bottom of the 5th, Stanford was able to tie up the game. Eddie Park singled to right field after which Carter Graham hit a two-run blast to left center, making it a 4-4 game. Stanford would not score any more runs the rest of the inning, but they at least now were back in this game at the end of the 5th.
In the top of the 6th inning, Washington found a way to re-take the lead. AJ Guerrero got walked after which Coby Morales struck out swinging. Then, Johnny Tincher got the Huskies back on track by hitting a ground rule double to right center, advancing Guerrero to third base. At this point, Dowd came in to pitch for Dixon. The first batter Dowd faced was Aiva Arquette, who came in as a pinch hitter. During Arquette’s at-bat, Dowd committed a throwing error which brought home Guerrero and advanced Tincher to third base. This made it a 5-4 lead for Washington. Dowd then settled in by striking out the next two batters, ending the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the 6th, Stanford’s offense really came to life. With one out, Rios homered to left center after which Becerra hit his first career home run to left field. It was now a 6-5 lead for the Cardinal. At this point, Emmanuels was done on the mound as Sam Boyle came in to replace him. Cobb and Park then hit back-to-back singles after which Graham was walked to load up the bases. This ended Boyle’s day on the mound as Case Matter came in to pitch for him.
“All I saw that whole at-bat was sliders,” Becerra said of his first career homer. “And I got to two strikes, I took two sliders there, and I kept seeing it well. Threw me a couple fast balls, fouled them off, and then he hung another slider and just tried to touch it and just, it was a homer, so.”
“You know, we’ve kind of revolved that position a lot,” Esquer said of the designated hitter position. “Cole Hinkelman won a couple games for us and Sapien has won a game for us and now Temo wins a game for us from that position. So, we haven’t had to rely on one guy, but we’re continuing to look for this lightning in a bottle, right? We’re trying to find someone who’s gonna give it to us.”
Matter then walked Tommy Troy, which brought home Cobb. This made it a 7-5 lead for the Cardinal. From there, Montgomery struck out swinging after which Moore grounded out to first base to end the inning. After Montgomery struck out, there was one more pitching change as Gianluca Shinn came in for Matter.
In the top of the 7th inning, Washington added one run. Cole Miller came in as a pinch hitter and singled through the left side after which Sam DeCarlo was walked to advance Miller to second base. At this point, Dowd’s day on the mound as done as Ryan Bruno came in for relief. Bruno would strike out Cam Clayton before throwing a wild pitch to advance DeCarlo to second base and Miller to third. Will Simpson then reached on a fielder’s choice to load up the bases. Up next to the plate would be Guerrero, who reached first base on a fielder’s choice as Simpson was out at second base. DeCarlo advanced to third base while Miller scored. Morales then struck out swinging to end the top of the inning. It was now a 7-6 lead for Stanford.
In the bottom of the 7th, Stanford did not score, keeping it at 7-6 at the end of the inning. With two innings to go, the Cardinal just needed to make sure they didn’t give up the lead once more.
In the top of the 8th, Bruno did a great job on the mound for Stanford by getting three straight outs. Two strike outs and a ground out. Little drama there.
“Really good,” Esquer said of the job Bruno did in relief. “Bruno was really good again. Pitching out of trouble and comes in for Dowd, who pitched fine, but I think maybe it’s the long inning and the long layoff kinda may have affected him again. I think we’ve done that to him twice with the inning prior to him is taking some time and then he’s hit a little bump in the road, but Bruno did a great job getting out of that. He’s been great for a little while now.”
In the bottom of the 8th, Stanford added one more run. Graham singled to left field with no outs after which Troy flied out to center field. Montgomery then struck out swinging for the second out. Moore then got walked, advancing Graham to second base after which Bowser singled through the left side to bring home Graham and advance Moore to second base. Rios then grounded out to third base. It was an 8-6 lead for Stanford at the end of the 8th inning.
In the top of the 9th inning, Pancer came in to pitch for Bruno and got the save by forcing three consecutive ground outs to end the game. 8-6 would be the final score. The Cardinal got the series win.
“Yeah, we keep talking about that,” Esquer said of the bullpen settling in. “I think behind the scenes our bullpen has gotten better and some guys are getting better and that’s been big.”
For Stanford, this is a big win. They did not want to lose this series and while the game was not as pretty as they would have wanted, they found a way to get the job done. Their offense came to life and their bullpen did their job. This is a case where you are just happy to get the win.
“This is a huge win for us,” Becerra said. “And it’s gonna give us some momentum next weekend…Just ride the course and keep working hard and keep playing the way we know how to play and we’re gonna beat anyone.”
Up next for Stanford is a home game on Tuesday against Cal. It will be a non-conference game. That will begin at 6:05 PM PT on Stanford Live Stream and KZSU radio.
“Yeah, you know what, again for us even though it is Cal and we’ll realize that, but it really continues to kinda be that nameless, faceless opponent,” Esquer said. “And the game is us versus the game that we haven’t, we just haven’t relaxed into it yet and been more ourselves. But, we’ve been competitive and that’s the only way we could have won today was just competitiveness.”
“Just gotta keep working,” Becerra said of the key to beating the Bears. “Just gotta keep working and just show up on Tuesday and just be ourselves again and just try to get a win.”
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